Bury St Edmunds were forced to settle for a share of the spoils in their final game of the year in a 2-2 draw away at Pelicans.

The visitors started well and opened the scoring with their first short corner as a routine involving Nick Ciappi, Stu Findell and Steve Jackson saw the latter’s effort deflect off a defender and over the keeper.

The pressure continued and Bury doubled their advantage as Steve Jackson evaded challenges from two defenders before rifling the ball into the top corner.

The home side’s frustration was clear to see as they had a man sent off just before the break following a string of bad stick tackles.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the hosts rallied after the interval and reduced the deficit just five minutes into the second-half.

After Bury missed a golden opportunity to add a third, Pelicans regained control, but stout defending from Peter Skidmore, Alex Macaffery, Joe Tasker and James French kept the hosts at bay.

However, they were finally breached with 10 minutes remaining as the hosts snatched a point.

n In Division Four North East, the second team came out on top in an 11-goal thriller to overcome promotion rivals Felixstowe in a 6-5 victory.

Bury went two goals ahead early on with Ian Konrath and Paul Whitting capitalising on some Felixstowe errors, before the visitors responded superbly to score four quick-fire goals.

Despite the setback, Bury started the second-half brightly and quickly levelled courtesy of goals from Ed Thompson and Dom Kavanagh.

Felixstowe then regained the lead, but Whiting levelled once more before Thompson struck a superb reverse- stick shot to snatch all three points.

n There was less joy for the third team in Division Five North East as they crashed to a 4-0 defeat away at University of East Anglia III.

n It was also much the same story for the fourth team in Division Six North East, who went down to the same scoreline against Norwich City VI.

A depleted Bury side, including the absence of leading scorer Matt Thompson, were dealt a further blow when they lost Bill Tasker to injury.

Despite the best efforts of Adrian Dawson and Justin Adams, Bury proved no match for Norwich, who eased to victory with two goals in each half.

n That disappointment carried over into the ladies’ first team in East Women’s League Division One North as they suffered a 5-1 defeat at home to Saffron Walden.

In a difficult encounter against the league leaders, two early penalty corner strikes proved the undoing of Bury, who found themselves 4-1 down after only 20 minutes.

With players pushed forward, the visitors capitalised once more with a fifth and final goal to wrap up proceedings.

n In contrast it proved a more positive afternoon for the ladies third team who remained top of Suffolk League Division One following a comfortable 3-0 success over Felixstowe II.

A period of early pressure from Heidi Mathieson, Chloe Lawson, Sophie Lubbock and Mel Mathieson finally brought the opening goal from Olivia Rush’s deflected effort.

With Elin Griffiths, Mel Marriot and Chloe Cunningham keeping Felixstowe at bay, further goals from Rush and Mathieson saw Bury head into the new year leading the pile.